Did you know there is a National Bike Month? Bike month began in 1956 and is held during the month of May each year. It promotes bikes, cycling and bike safety. Why not celebrate Bike Month by reading a book that features bikes (or going for a ride! or both!)!
New Red Bike! by James E. Ransome
Up and down! Round and round! Tom is having a blast zooming all over the neighborhood on his new red bike. But when Tom stops by Sam’s house to show off his wheels, he’s in for an unhappy surprise. The new bike is suddenly . . . gone. Could his best friend Sam be the culprit?
Triplet Trouble and the Bicycle Race by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones, illustrated by John Speirs
Mr. Parker’s second-grade class is very excited about an upcoming bike race, and while each of the troublesome Tucker triplets thinks they are certain to win, their harrassed classmates remain skeptical.
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) by Sue Macy
Take a lively look at women’s history from aboard a bicycle, which granted females the freedom of mobility and helped empower women’s liberation. Through vintage photographs, advertisements, cartoons, and songs, Wheels of Change transports young readers to bygone eras to see how women used the bicycle to improve their lives.
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
Ever since her parents began fighting, Auden has been unable to sleep at night. Now, spending a summer at a charming beach town with her father and his new family, she has to find new places to pass the time she spends awake. And so she meets Eli, a fellow insomniac who becomes her nighttime guide. Together, they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she has missed; for Eli, to come to terms with the death of a friend
Still We Ride [DVD] directed by Andrew Lynn, Elizabeth Press, and Christopher Ryan
Still We Ride is a documentary that shows the history of what became a monthly ritual for New York City’s bike community, a free-roaming ride called Critical Mass. The movie takes on issues of civil liberties, surveillance, the power of mainstream media, and the benefits of alternative means of transportation.
It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins
This is the story of one man’s journey through triumph, tragedy, transformation, and transcendance. It is the story of Lance Armstrong, the six-time winner of the Tour de France, and his fight against cancer.
The Happiness of Pursuit: a Father’s Courage, a Son’s Love and Life’s Steepest Climb by Davis Phinney with Austin Murphy
With humor and grace, Phinney weaves the narrative of his battle with Parkinson’s with tales from his cycling career and from his son’s emerging career. The Happiness of Pursuit is a remarkable story of fathers and sons and bikes, of victories large and small.
A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson
A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar explores the fault lines that appear when traditions from different parts of an increasingly globalized world crash into one other. Beautifully written, and peopled by a cast of unforgettable characters, the novel interweaves the stories of Frieda (from the present-day) and Eva (from 1923), gradually revealing the links between them and the ways in which they each challenge and negotiate the restrictions of their societies as they make their hard-won way toward home.
Ride safely! Check out the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s bike safety tips for kids!